Student Jørgen Amdim got to experience life as an orderly on his one-week placement at the Norwegian Radium Hospital.

Transporting patients in Norway’s biggest cancer hospital is strenuous both physically and psychologically. “But it’s really good,” said Jørgen Amdim, who is studying the program Healthcare, childhood and youth development at Ullern Upper Secondary School. His one-week placement was at the Transport Section at the Norwegian Radium Hospital. The work experience certainly gave him a taste for more.

Jørgen has previously worked in a nursing home, but he found the work a little tedious. He enjoyed being an orderly though and asked the school if there were any available placements.

An orderly is an attendant in a hospital who is responsible for, among other things, transporting patients, medical equipment and other essential materials. Jørgen spent one week as an orderly at the Radium Hospital and he loved it. He enjoyed it so much that he wants to work there again during the summer of 2019.

Knut Arve Kristiansen, the Head of the Transport Section, has worked at the Radium Hospital for 30 years and praised Jørgen:

“He was a perfect addition to our team, and we are very happy with him.”

80 km per week

Jørgen enjoys manual labour, which is great if you want to become an orderly. Wheeling around heavy medical equipment or patients in beds and wheel chairs is hard work. Knut Arve explained:

”As orderlies, we’re constantly on the go, and we could end up walking around 80 kilometres on hard floors during a week of work.

“It can be strenuous for the body, so we have to regularly do strength exercises to keep fit,” Knut Arve continued.

Knut Arve only had positive things to say about Jørgen and he hopes that Jørgen will want to return to the Transport Section for a summer job as an orderly.

“Jørgen is a social person and very well liked. This is important for patients when they are transported between examinations and the rooms they are staying in,” said Knut Arve.

Jørgen praises the work environment and especially the warm welcome he received from the other staff.

Jørgen has constantly been accompanied by a colleague from the section during his stay, because he is not allowed to do much on his own when on a placement. If he returns for a summer job, things will be different. Then he will have to work more independently and take responsibility if an emergency should occur while he is transporting a patient.

The orderlies are also responsible for transporting food and medication. To newcomers, the Radium Hospital can appear to be a huge labyrinth, especially outside the wards. The hospital is also currently being renovated, because a new hospital is being built. A sense of direction is therefore essential for anyone finding their way through the building.

A future in health

Jørgen does not necessarily want to become an orderly, but sees himself working in healthcare:

“I would really like to work in an emergency room – receiving ill and injured people at the hospital when they arrive in an ambulance. But I think working as an orderly is very exciting too, so I don’t want to exclude it as an option.”

Knut Arve says that a trade certificate is required to work as an orderly and that they currently offer placements for several apprentices in the section. Students need to study Healthcare, childhood and youth development during upper secondary school and then finish a two-year apprenticeship to obtain their trade certificate as an orderly.

”Workdays here are very varied and you meet many different people. It is really fun to talk to people and no two days are the same. I have really enjoyed it.” said Jørgen.

Attracting and developing the life science talents of the future is an essential goal for Oslo Cancer Cluster. One way to do that is to take students outside the traditional classroom setting and invite them to work placements and educational lectures. These collaborations between industry and academia give the students a unique insight into the specialist skills needed to become tomorrow’s researchers and entrepreneurs.

Fruit flies are not only annoying little insects that appear when bananas are overripe. They are also popular research tools for cancer researchers.

The four pupils Kalina Topalova Casadiego, Ida Hustad Andresen, Andreas Bernhus and Dina Düring got to experience how cancer researchers look at fruit flies during their work placement in January.

“Let’s turn on the gas, and then I’ll put some fruit flies on the pad under your microscope.” Speaking is cancer researcher Lene Malrød who, together with her colleague Nina Marie Pedersen, is responsible for four pupils from Ullern Secondary School on work placements.

“Gosh! They’re moving,” proclaims one of the pupils.

But not for long. Soon, all the fruit flies are anaesthetised and, eventually, dead; then the pupils are tasked with surgically removing the ovaries of the female flies. It is easier said than done, even with the help of microscopes to enhance the tiny flies. Especially when the operating tools are two tweezers.

The fruit flies are kept in test tubes.

An exciting placement

It is the third day of the pupils’ work placement at the Institute for Cancer Research, located next to the school. For four days at the end of January, they have learnt about cancer research and which methods researchers use in their daily work.

“The work placement is not like we imagined,” says Kalina and Ida.

“There’s a lot more manual work than I would have thought, and then you realise how important research is through what we do,” says Ida.

She is the only one who is specialising in biology in combination with with other science subjects, and she finds this very useful when working in the lab together with researchers. The other three have had to catch up on the reading, but they all agree that it is very exciting.

“Yesterday, we learnt a lot about CRISPR, which is a new method for cutting and splicing genes. Media gives you the impression that this is a highly precise tool, but the researchers here say that a lot can go wrong, and that it’s not at all as precise as you might think,” says Ida.

The students look at the fruit flies under a microscope.

From Western Blot to flies

A total of twelve pupils were picked out for this work placement. They have been chosen based on motivation and grades, and they all have a wish to study something related to medicine or science after they finish upper secondary school.

The twelve students are divided into three groups with completely different activities and get to learn a number of different research methods. The group consisting of Ida, Kalina, Andreas, and Dina, for instance, is the only group which will have a go in the fly lab.

“Am I really supposed to remove the ovaries? I don’t see how,” one of the pupils say, equally discouraged and excited.

Andreas, on the other hand, is in complete control. First, he has separated the males and the females with a paint brush. He has then used the tweezers to remove the heads from the females, punctured the bottom to remove the intestines, and finally found the ovaries in the abdomen.

Lene gathers all the different body parts for the pupils to look at through a different microscope. These fruit flies are in fact genetically manipulated to glow in the dark – they are fluorescent.

If you are wondering why researchers use fruit flies as part of their research, you can read more about it in this article from Forskning.no (the article is written in Norwegian).

“It is so much fun to be here, and we are really lucky to get this opportunity,” says Dina on her way from the fly lab to another lab to carry out another experiment.

Hannah (18) wants to become a doctor. After two days job shadowing doctors and nurses at the Norwegian Radium Hospital, she is even more certain that this is what she wants to do.

If your dream is to become a doctor, it may be a good idea to gain some insight into what the job actually involves before embarking on a long education. But job shadowing a doctor is usually only a possibility if you’re already a medical student.

Truls Ryder is a senior consultant and surgeon at the Norwegian Radium Hospital. He decided to do something about this, and over three days, one theme day that you can read more about here and two days of job shadowing, 18 pupils had the opportunity to experience surgery, morning staff meetings and patient consultations with the best cancer specialists and nurses in Norway.

Hannah Fiksdal is one of these pupils. And I, Elisabeth the journalist, shadowed her on the first of her two days at the Norwegian Radium Hospital. It was a day that neither of us will forget. A day that left Hannah with an even stronger desire to become a doctor.

‘I am incredibly grateful for the chance to shadow two different doctors, and to Truls Ryder for taking the initiative to allow pupils from Ullern to come to the Norwegian Radium Hospital. It gives us some idea of what may interests us before we apply for higher education in the spring. Having had a taste of two different aspects of medicine, I think that surgery and anaesthesiology were probably the things that I found most exciting.’

Hannah Fiksdal.

Hannah Fiksdal starts the day early at the hospital. Photo. Elisabeth Kirkeng Andersen

Tuesday 7 November

07:15 – the Norwegian Radium Hospital, basement level 2 – the corridor outside room AU 230Sixteen excited pupils, 14 from the natural science and mathematics programme who will be shadowing doctors and two from the healthcare programme who will be shadowing nurses, are standing in a corridor two floors below the main entrance to the Norwegian Radium Hospital dressed in white hospital clothes.

Truls Ryder, senior consultant and prime mover behind the job shadowing scheme, is also here. He quickly reads out where each pupil will be spending the day, and sets of at a brisk pace with everyone in tow.

This is an indication of what is to come.

We go five floors up and then a couple of floors down via the back stairs. On the way, pupils peel off from the group to join other senior consultants and professors who they will be job shadowing today.

Hannah and Tristan are handed over to the anaesthetists at the anaesthesiology department. The department has nine senior consultants, one professor working 50% of a full-time position, and three specialist registrars.

07:34The morning staff meeting has already started when Hannah and Tristan arrive. Eight doctors and nurses go through the list of patients who will need anaesthesia or pain relief today. Some will undergo surgery in the hospital’s central unit, and some require their services in other parts of the hospital, such as the radiotherapy department.

It is difficult to understand the discussions and information exchanged between the doctors and nurses. The jargon is technical, professional and precise. I wonder how much Hannah and Tristan understand? But it is clear that we have a full day ahead, and that many of the patients are seriously ill with cancer. Some are young, and some patients’ cancer has returned after treatment. Despite the difficult subject, the tone of the meeting is upbeat and friendly. It will remain so for the rest of the day.

08:00Tristan and Hannah meet their mentors for the day. Tristan will join Senior Consultant Hege for a complicated operation that may take more than ten hours. The patient has a form of cancer that means that the surgeons have to go into the skeleton, among other things.

Hannah will be joining Senior Consultant Anne. Anne has several operations on her schedule today, and Hannah and I will be allowed to tag along and see how she works. Anne’s first patient is having an epidural and then a general anaesthetic. This is also a complicated operation.

Anne and Hege both tell us to be prepared that what we experience may make a strong impression on us and that it is natural to feel unwell. They both share stories about themselves and about medical students who have fainted both during and after visits to the operating theatre.

‘Let us know if you fell unwell,’ is their mantra, ‘and we will help you.’ I think back to the countless shifts I worked at nursing homes during my student days, and hope that they have prepared me for this. But what about young people of 18 and 19 who want to go on to work here?

08:07Anne gives us green scrubs and a purple cap. We change in her office while she explains that her job can be compared to a pilot flying a plane. There is a lot to do when the operation starts until the patient is under anaesthesia, and then there is a calmer period of observation of the patient, often done by her colleagues, and then she goes back to full focus when the patient wakes up.

We get changed quickly.

8:10Surgery starts early at the Norwegian Radium Hospital, and the patient arrives at the operating theatre at the same time as we do. Anne explains who Hannah and I are and why we are here. In addition to the patient, there are already five people working here.

Anne jokes and talks to the patient, who she has already met several times before. She explains that she will first be administering a local anaesthetic to the back before putting in an epidural, a form of pain relief given as an injection in the back. After that, a cannula will be inserted into a vein in the patient’s lower arm. When the patient is completely asleep, Anne will place a catheter in the neck that will be used to administer anaesthetics, pain relief, salts and anything else the body may need during an operation.

Anne involves Hannah in the work and explains what she is doing while she works, and she also explains to the patient.

‘It was also really nice to see how caring the doctors and nurses were and how they reassured the patients before surgery. They were very good at creating a pleasant atmosphere to make the patients feel safe despite the seriousness of the situation.’

Hannah Fiksdal.

08:41Operating theatre 4 is a big, light room, and one of the long walls has big windows with a view of Mærradalsbekken stream and the surrounding forest. The river and the walking path meander side by side. But today, we can hardly see any of this through the darkness and fog.

Anne keeps an eye on the pulse and heart monitor that the patient is connected to, while the theatre nurse is preparing the instruments that the surgeons might need during the operation.

The patient is about to be put under full anaesthesia. Anne and her colleagues place a cannula in an artery in the patient’s lower arm/hand and a catheter in a vein in the neck. Anne is calm and talks to both the patient and Hannah. She explains to the patient that she will soon be asleep. She explains to Hannah what she is doing, and how you can tell the difference between a vein, which carries blood back to the heart: ‘It is darker in colour and pumps slower’ and an artery, which carries blood from the heart: ‘It is light in colour, full of oxygen, and has more force. If I had made a hole in an artery, the blood would have squirted out.’

Despite the number of people working in the operating theatre, the atmosphere is calm and pleasant.

Hannah pays close attention to Anne and asks questions while she is working. Anne is obviously impressed with the pupil: ‘Hannah, you are a tough cookie.’

09:10The patient has been anaesthetised and is ready for surgery. At this stage, Anne and her colleagues’ responsibility is to ensure that the patient is okay during surgery.

09:40The patient is in good hands in the operating theatre, so Anne goes to the recovery unit where the patients are taken to recover from the effects of surgery. Patients are closely monitored here. Many complications can arise following surgery, such as bleeding, breathing difficulties, a fall in blood pressure, pain and nausea.

Anne will set up a pain pump for the patient. This is a pump with morphine that Anne programs so that the patient can regulate how much pain relief she needs and wants in the days following the operation. We are allowed to use the staff’s break room while she is programming it. ‘Drink squash with sugar,’ she advises. We do as we are told, and talk a bit about what we have seen and experienced so far. Hannah is pleasantly surprised that she has been allowed into the operating theatre already, and at how open and welcoming everyone is.

‘There was some information about anaesthesia at the theme day yesterday, so I understand what is going on,’ says Hannah, and talks more about her wish to become a doctor.

Anne returns and takes the time to talk to Hannah about medical school and her many years working as an anaesthetist at Haukeland University Hospital. She took up her position at the Norwegian Radium Hospital a month ago, and there is still much that is unfamiliar.

10:01We return to the operating theatre. There are suddenly a lot of people here, and several surgeons with different areas of specialisation discuss the surgery they are about to perform. It is a complex operation that requires cooperation.

After conferring for a while, the surgeons make a plan. Several of the Ullern pupils on job shadowing come by together with a gastrointestinal surgeon. One of the surgeons takes the time to explain the plan to Hannah and the others.

10:20A theatre nurse goes through a checklist with the physician, surgeon and anaesthetist Anne. Everything is in order, and the operation can begin. Anne uses all her senses to check that the patient is still doing well.

Two surgeons cooperate on the operation. Hannah stands watching behind them. They talk about this and that while they are working, including the musical Book of Mormon. The actual operation is expected to take five hours. After working and discussing amongst themselves for a while, they ask for another surgeon to be called. They need what is called a ‘second opinion’, or another surgeon’s assessment.

There are suddenly a lot of people in the operating theatre, and several surgeons with different areas of specialisation discussing the case. Truls comes in with a couple of pupils who are shadowing him. Truls confers with his colleagues, and one of the surgeons explains that they are uncertain about the best way to proceed. When the surgeons opened the patient up, they found that the assumptions they had made from the outside were not correct. They have to rethink and make a new plan for the operation.

Anne lets us know that this is very unusual. There are rarely this many surgeons involved in an operation, and they do not often spend this much time discussing what to do. She suggests that we take a break and get something to eat. She has to work, though, both with more of today’s patients and planning for tomorrow, but she thinks that we should eat something.

‘Another thing that surprised me was the doctors’ willingness to show and tell me what they were doing and why. During the first day in particular I learnt a lot that I hope will be useful in my future studies. It was also very clear during the operations that good cooperation is incredibly important in order to achieve the best possible outcome for the patients. Everything from how the senior consultants’ discussed to find the best way to proceed during the first operation to how the two surgeons cooperated without needing to communicate much during the second one.’

Hannah Fiksdal.

11:07 Break roomSince we have green scrubs on, we have crispbread with cheese in one of the break rooms. Otherwise, we would have had to change, leave to eat and then change back afterwards. We also have more squash. With sugar. More pupils come in for a welcome break. Four intense hours have flown by. Two pupils have fainted and woken up again.

Ander Bayer from Oslo University Hospital’s communications department also joins us. He made this video about the job shadowing.

11:36 Operating theatre 2Anne comes to get us. Hannah is going to go with her to another operation. Anne is to put another patient under anaesthesia. Again, Anne explains to the patient and theatre nurses who we are. This patient is also having an epidural in the back, and again, Anne alternates between speaking softly and reassuringly and explaining what she is doing to the patient and Hannah. Fourteen minutes after we entered the operating theatre, the patient is under. Two nurse anaesthetists help Anne by monitoring the patient. The theatre nurses wash the abdomen where the surgeons will open up the patient to remove tumours.

12:15 Operating theatre 4Anne is needed in operating theatre 4 again, where three surgeons are operating on the first patient. They have now decided what to do.

12:23 BreakWe get to take another break and have some squash with sugar, while Anne is preparing a pain pump for the second patient.

12:32The second patient’s operation is under way. Two surgeons are standing face to face, working together. Anne gets a stool so that Hannah can stand by the patient’s head and watch the surgeons work inside the patient’s abdomen. They have made an incision that is held open by a large tool. There is a smell when the surgeon uses an electrosurgical knife to cut tissue and burn small blood vessels. The cancer they are removing is located around the vein and artery, the blood vessels running to and from the heart and legs. The surgeons show Hannah where they have to be careful. The cancer is removed, and they quickly suture the different layers of tissue before stapling the skin. The theatre nurses perform a routine equipment count. The operation is completed in 40 minutes.

‘The day in the operating theatre was at least as exciting as I imagined! I had not expected that they would allow us to get so close to the patients and really get a proper insight into what happens during an operation and also how the patients are anaesthetised.’

Hannah Fiksdal.

13:35Anne returns to make sure that both the patient and Hannah are okay. Anne and her colleagues from the anaesthesiology department wake the patient up. The important thing now is for the patient to start breathing again. Everything goes as it should.

13:40We accompany the patient to the recovery unit, where the patient will remain for a few hours. Anne’s work with this patient is now finished. We go back to her office to change out of the green sterile scrubs. Anne tells Hannah that she will probably doze off early after such a long and intense day. Anne’s shift will last until half past three, when other anaesthetists will take over for the evening shift. In the hall, Hannah thanks Anne for everything she has taught her and for taking care of her during the day.

14:00As we leave the Norwegian Radium Hospital through the main entrance, we wonder how the first patient whose surgery we saw in the operating theatre is doing. And Hannah says that she is looking forward to another day of job shadowing tomorrow.

EpilogueThe evaluation results for the theme day and job shadowing were excellent. The pupils and teachers were highly satisfied, and it has already been decided that this will be made an annual event for pupils at Ullern upper secondary school who are considering a career in medicine.

‘Finally, I would like to say that it was very inspiring to see how committed Anne and Anna (Anna Winge-Main, who was Hannah’s mentor on the second day of job shadowing) was to their work and how much they loved their job. It was very clear that they are really dedicated to helping their patients. As Anne said, medical school can be hard and difficult, but once you start working as a doctor, nobody regrets their choice.’

Aksel Stien graduated from Ullern Secondary School in 2011. Today he is a physician working on his specialty subjects at Oslo University Hospital. Aksel has always wanted to become a physician and the foundation was already in place at Ullern. He learned things from his deployment at The Norwegian Radium Hospital during his upper secondary days that he has yet to learn from his medicine studies.

A warm summer afternoon Aksel is at an Adamstuen café. It’s four a clock and his workday at Ullevaal is done. Aksel is currently working at the department of Gastrointestinal Surgery at Ullevaal Hospital, a part of his specialization and continuing education as a doctor.

— Recently I worked at the emergency services at Grünerløkka for three months, a time I experienced as both exiting and hectic. However, I think it is interesting working at Gastrointestinal Surgery as well.

At Ullern he specialized in natural sciences and he has only good things to say about the teachers.

— I didn’t have one inadequate teacher in all my years at Ullern. Quite amazing really and that contributed to my good grades. Of course, I also worked hard to be able to enroll as a medicine student in Bergen right after graduation.

Very Interesting Deployment
Aksel finished his studies in 2017 and can now call himself doctor. However, a doctor is never fully educated. He is currently undergoing part one of his continuing education. And when he looks back, he remembers well his years at Ullern were he participated in two work deployments at the Norwegian Radium Hospital.

— The deployments motivated me. I learned things I haven’t experienced later, like laboratory work and advanced cell biology. The best thing is that my passion for natural science was rewarded and encouraged. It felt fun doing stuff that was outside of the straight forward curriculum, says Aksel

Aksel was both deployed at a group led by Kristian Berg working on photochemical internalization and how it can be used to kill cancer cells, and additionally at dep. of Radiation Biology were the students learned about skin cancers and the danger of tanning booths.

Uncertain on Future
After finishing the first part of his continuing medical education, he will start the second part that decides the type of doctor he will become at the end, what field of expertiese he will delve deeper into. However, exactly what type of doctor he wants to become he hasn’t decided yet.

— Many of the different types of specializations are fun. Right now, gastrointestinal surgery is very exciting, but I don’t know. It will be a difficult choice, says Aksel.

Aksel has wanted to become a doctor for a long time and thinks it is an exciting profession combining knowledge of the natural sciences, medicine and the body with human contact skills.

— The life of a physician is very diverse, and it is very rewarding often seeing the results of your hard work immediately, says Aksel.

Aksel is tempted to go into research or maybe combining patient treatment with research. Treating patients and doing research is a quite common combination and Aksel has already participated in several research projects.

Do What You Find Fun!
Aksel is a believer in personal motivation. It is important that each graduate student go on to study what they are interested in and excites them.

— If you chose something that motivates you it’s much easier working hard because doing that extra work comes so naturally, says Aksel.

He thinks it is very understandable that natural sciences lover choose the medical profession after upper secondary.

— It’s a natural choice because of the job security and the exciting diversity of the profession. You can work with people, do research or work with patients. As a career it has it all and offers you a choice whatever you do, says Aksel.

— Personally, I have wanted to work with medicine since I was a toddler and I’m very happy about the career path I have chosen.

Former Ullern upper secondary school student Simone Mester is enjoying a meteoric career as a researcher. Her research is aimed at making cancer drugs more efficient by getting them to stay longer in the body. But how did she end up here, and what advice does she have for upper secondary school students who are about to choose what educational path to take?

Simone Mester is 25 years old. Before studying molecular biology and being taken on as a researcher at the University of Oslo (UiO), she took natural science subjects at Ullern upper secondary school. She was one of the first students to be offered a place on a work placement programme under the auspices of Oslo Cancer Cluster. Her placement was at the Institute of Clinical Medicine where she worked at both the Department of Tumor Biology and the Department of Radiation Biology.

But choosing molecular biology after upper secondary school was not an easy choice.

‘I felt unsure at the time. I remember thinking a lot about what jobs would be available to me after studying molecular biology. At the same time, the work placements had given me an idea of what it means to work as a researcher. Without that, I would never have dared to choose molecular biology, but would have gone for medicine instead,’ says Simone Mester.

Inspired by IngerNow, just five years after celebrating her graduation from Ullern, Simone is a researcher at the University of Oslo (Department of Biosciences and Department of Pharmacology) and at Oslo University Hospital (Department of Cancer Immunology) as a member of Jan Terje Andersen and Inger Sandlie’s research group. As chance would have it, Professor Inger Sandlie is a member of the board of Oslo Cancer Cluster and is one of the founders of two enterprises working on a new form of cancer treatment.

‘Inger was one of my lecturers when I took my bachelor’s degree, and I found her very inspiring. She has won several innovation awards and started up businesses. I like working on research that is complex but understandable, and that can form the basis for new and better treatment for serious illnesses,’ says Simone.

So it is no great surprise that Simone’s research project focuses on developing better cancer drugs that stay longer in the body. This enables the drug to kill more cancer cells at lower doses, which means that there are also fewer side effects. This was also the focus of her master’s thesis.

‘My master’s thesis was well received. It opened the door to Inger Sandlie and Jan Terje Andersen’s research group, but chance played a part as well, of course,’ says Simone modestly.

Chance always plays some part, but Simone has no reason to be modest. She is not where she is today as a result of chance alone.

Do not choose the most prestigious fieldsSimone is very happy that she did not choose a subject that is better known than molecular biology in terms of status and job opportunities. She encourages upper secondary students to think about what they are good at and what they think is fun when making the hard choice of which direction to take after upper secondary school.

‘I feel that it’s a general problem that so many young people choose high status professions such as law, engineering and medicine, rather than looking at other possibilities. When I tell people that I’m a molecular biologist, they don’t understand what it is, and they don’t ask either, but that’s OK. It’s more important to choose something you think is fun, because that means you will also perform better, even though it’s hard work,’ says Simone.

She adds:

‘And if you think upper secondary school is tough and that you have to work really hard to get good grades, then I can tell you that university is much tougher. That means that it’s really important that you choose a field you’re passionate about,’ says Simone.

She encourages students to talk to their subject teachers about possible career choices.

‘I had several good biology teachers at Ullern, and was considering studying biology. However, Ragni, one of my teachers, was adamant that I should focus on molecular biology since I was particularly good at it,’ says Simone.

She has never regretted her decision. When we ask her what fascinates her about molecular biology, she says:

‘I’m working on such a tiny scale with things like DNA, protein and cells, the building blocks for all life. It’s like a different universe, and, in the beginning, it was hard to understand how I fitted in,’ Simone says.

But after listening to Inger’s lectures and later becoming part of her research team, she is sure about her decision.

The SPARK Winner And the Prime MinisterSimone completed her master’s degree in 2017, by which time the university had already granted her application for innovation funds to continue her research. In addition, she is the youngest person at the university to be accepted for ‘Spark Norway’, an innovation programme at UiO:Life Science, which Oslo Cancer Cluster has helped to establish.

‘My SPARK project is an extension of the project I began during my master’s studies. Of all the proteins I’ve created, I’ve found one with the ability to stay in the blood stream for a very long time. That means that it doesn’t break down so quickly. At the same time, a lab in the Netherlands has developed several new antibodies that can effectively kill cancer cells. The problem is that the antibodies break down quickly in the body. So now we’re trying to combine these antibodies with our unique technology, in the hope of tailoring the next generation of cancer drugs,’ says Simone.

The aim of the SPARK innovation programme is to give young researchers a chance to further develop their own ideas in health-related life science for the benefit of patients and society at large. And Simone’s project really fits the bill in that respect, something a lot of people agree with.

When Prime Minister Erna Solberg opened the new incubator ShareLab at the Oslo Science Park in March this year, a competition was organised between the SPARK participants. And guess who won?

None other than Simone.

Ragni Fet on Simone:

Ragni is a biology teacher at Ullern upper secondary school. Simone Mester was one of her students for all three years: first in natural science and then in biology for two years. Simone was part of Ragni’s first cohort of students nine years ago.

‘I remember Simone very well, and we have actually been in touch after she graduated from Ullern upper secondary school. She struggled a bit to stay motivated while taking her bachelor’s degree in biology, and I talked to her about how that was completely natural and that things would improve at master’s level,’ says Ragni.

And it’s safe to say that the pep talk worked.

Ragni was also the one who recommended Simone to study molecular biology.

‘Many upper secondary school students tend to have a too narrow perspective when it comes to choosing an education and profession. I’m trying to expand their horizons, and I strongly recommended that Simone study molecular biology rather than medicine, which she was considering at the time,’ says Ragni.

She is both pleased and proud that Simone is doing so well as a researcher at the University of Oslo, but she is not the least bit surprised.

‘Simone was very good at biology and really grasped the subject in her final year. I seem to remember giving her the best grade in biology. It’s great that she’s doing so well now. I’m really rooting for her. She has everything it takes to succeed, from intelligence to social skills and work capacity,’ says Ragni.

She is really pleased that the work placement offered to Ullern students was the decisive factor in Simone’s decision to go for a career as a researcher.

‘Students and society at large are very under-informed about what research is and what being a researcher entails. When students praise each other, they say “What are you, a brain researcher or something?”, so they clearly think you have to be extremely clever to become a researcher. Most people find research diffuse, so it’s great that some students can go on work placements and experience first-hand what research is and what a researcher does,’ says Ragni.

The innovation company of the year wants to encourage young talents.

Six students from Ullern Upper Secondary School spent their school day at Thermo Fisher Scientific just days after the company won the prestigious award as the innovation company of the year in Norway.

As part of the school collaboration between Ullern Upper Secondary School and Oslo Cancer Cluster, Thermo Fisher Scientific opens their labs for science students at work deployment.

Curious about the school collaboration? Check out our new webpage!

The DynabeadsThe students got a unique insight into how one of Norway’s largest biotechnology companies advances their products, based on the so-called Ugelstad-beads or Dynabeads, developed by Professor John Ugelstad in the late 1970s.

Today, Dynabeads are further industrialized for use in specialized diagnostic tests and cancer treatments worldwide. Annually, the beads are used in an estimated number of four billion diagnostic analyses.

Scientist Synne Larsen and three students are in the company laboratory in Lillestrøm, a ten minute train ride from the capital, where Thermo Fisher Scientific quality checks its products in Norway.

Impressed students
– I find it incredibly useful to see how our learning at school is being used in the workplace, says student Emma E. J. Botten.

Together with two co-students she was able to see the research and production done in the company’s facilities in Lillestrøm. In parallel, three of the girls’ fellow students were in Oslo and tried out life as crime scene investigators, using Dynabeads as a tool for finding DNA, in the company’s facilities in Montebello.

– It’s impressive to see how much work lies behind their products and how dedicated those who work here are, says student Nora B. Grone.

Diverse employment strategyThe students are in their third year at Ullern Upper Secondary School, with science as their speciality. They all want a career in medicine, global health, mathematics, physics or engineering. A tour of the lab and a visit to the factory were therefore among the highlights of the day.

– It was a bit overwhelming to see Ugelstad’s equation, which is the recipe for the beads, says student Thilde E. Kjorstad.

– Yes, but keep in mind that everyone cannot be as brilliant as Ugelstad. Everybody we employ is equally important and we must have people with different backgrounds and experience, says Erlend Ragnhildstveit, Research Director of Thermo Fisher Scientific in Norway.

Useful cooperationThermo Fisher Scientific is a member of Oslo Cancer Cluster. Part of the staff is situated in Oslo Cancer Cluster Innovation Park, where Ullern Upper Secondary School is located as well.

– The collaboration with Ullern is useful and important to us as a company. This makes it easier to host deployments. In order to develop our business further, as well as the health industry in Norway, we need people with a science background, says Erlend Ragnhildstveit.

Interested pupils at Ullern Upper Secondary School arrive at laboratory 117 to learn alongside Dr. Bora Sieng, a chemist in Arctic Pharma. Dr. Sieng advocates for the importance of chemistry and encourages pupils to pursue a career in the exciting field of chemistry.

At nine o’clock in the morning, three boys eagerly gather outside laboratory room 117. They’re waiting for an exciting opportunity offered by the collaboration between Ullern Upper Secondary and Oslo Cancer Cluster. This opportunity provides pupils the chance to see how chemistry is used in a real-life setting (a biotech company). This allows pupils to apply what they have learned in the classroom and in their textbooks to real-life scientific problems, such as developing new therapies for diseases.

The door opens and Dr. Bora Sieng greets the students with a friendly smile and handshakes. Dr. Sieng, who has a PhD in organic chemistry and is project leader in Arctic Pharma, welcomes them in. Arctic Pharma is a small start-up company developing innovative anti-cancer drugs.

Reaction ActionWhen entering the lab, we can feel the excitement between the pupils, they are here to learn. Dr. Sieng asks the boys what level of chemistry the pupils have taken. They nervously, but excitedly respond that they haven’t taken advanced levels, but know basic organic chemistry. Thus, they’re put to work after going through some textbook examples and introductory concepts. It’s time for some chemistry cooking!

A Collaboration is FormedArctic Pharma relocated their chemistry laboratory temporarily to Ullern in April. Dr. Sieng has been using the laboratory since then. He offers some insight into the new collaboration between Arctic Pharma and Ullern Upper Secondary School.

– For the past few months, I have had the opportunity to carry out my work using the facilities at Ullern through Arctic Pharma’s Collaboration with the school. I feel the school collaboration is a win-win for Arctic Pharma and the pupils at Ullern. Arctic Pharma is committed to introduce pupils to organic chemistry from a company’s perspective. This provides the students with the chance to get a feel of what it is like to work in a biotech company and to see how their education can be applied.

– Organic chemistry is fascinating! It can have many applications such as drug design and development, cosmetics, material development in, for example, rubber, plastics, detergents and paints as well as production of chemicals used in agriculture, to name a few examples.

Next GenerationAt Arctic Pharma, Dr. Sieng works in a team of scientists that specialize in different fields important for drug design and development. As a medicinal organic chemist, Dr. Sieng is passionate about his work, and hopes to inspire the new generation of chemists.

– To keep Norway a world innovator, the field of chemistry is important and we especially need to nourish the next generation of chemists and scientists, hence this collaboration is also important for our country.

Essentially, we need to ensure a future for Norway that will continue to thrive, construct and further the research that will help us continue down the path of innovative discovery. Such a future can only be secured if we continue to unlock the potential that chemistry offers us; a future waiting to be unlocked by the next generation.

A driving force behind the collaboration between Ullern Upper Secondary School and Oslo Cancer Cluster is stepping down. This is her adventure.

After fifteen great and productive years at Ullern Upper Secondary School, Esther Eriksen steps down from her position as vice principle in the upcoming month. Esther, who has been responsible for many various tasks in her position, has been a part of Ullern’s transformative experience alongside Oslo Cancer Cluster’s emergence in 2009 and recounts her time at Ullern.

A flourish of innovationEsther Eriksen describes the transformation and unification of Ullern Upper Secondary School and Oslo Cancer Cluster as being a progression from a strong belief in it’s potential to a flourish of innovation.

The collaboration has become a constant state of liveliness: from pupils attending classes, to research, to teamwork and a continuous process of growth.

Since 2009, the school and the cluster, with all its member companies and institutions, has unified to produce a collaborative arena for the pupils. This is an experience Eriksen describes nothing short of “wonderful, educational and groundbreaking”.

Diversity in teamwork
– The collaborative experience is incredible due to the pupils’ ability to take in experience in regards to teamwork. Not to mention they learn how knowledge from books can be translated to hands on work and ultimately get a feel for what life has in store for them, says Eriksen.

Esther Eriksen describes her own experience as being much of the same, and stresses the notion of working as a team.

– Diversity in teamwork is really important! We see this from well-received results and happy pupils, says Eriksen.

Future potential
In regards to the future of this collaboration, Vice Principle Eriksen expresses her desire to see the school continue down the path it has set out on. She wants to see the pupils continue to learn, gain opportunities and continue to work collaboratively.

– I wish the pupils would gain further awareness of the potential this unification brings, and hope to see increased interest in teamwork as an integrity.

The best of moments
Esther Eriksen also shares what she would consider the best moments of her time at Ullern, of which these were her favorite:

When the new school first opened in the Oslo Cancer Cluster Innovation Park in 2015 – hard work finally turned to fruition

Seeing how happy and motivated the pupils are when they do projects with scientists, businesses and hospitals in the cluster

The emergence of vocational studies, such as electronics and health care studies, at Ullern Upper Secondary School

To conclude, Vice Principle Eriksen would like to leave the school and her colleagues this message: that she will continue to observe and follow the thriving development taking place at Ullern Upper Secondary School.

Join six pupils from Ullern Upper Secondary School to see how physics plays a crucial role in good cancer treatment.

A group of interested pupils pay close attention as Taran Paulsen Hellebust explains the recommended radiation dose for a patient with prostate cancer. On a big monitor, she shows how the dose administered by the radiotherapy machine should vary between organs, and what will happen if you increase the dosage or the radiation, or expand the radiation field.

The six upper secondary school pupils ask many good questions. This week, they are spending their school days at the Norwegian Radium Hospital’s Department of Medical Physics, where they are on work placement.

While looking at the screen, they are talking about grey which is a unit of measurement, just like metres and decilitres, for radiation.

All six pupils are studying maths and physics plus either chemistry or biology at Ullern Upper Secondary School, which is only a stone’s throw away from the hospital. Many of them are considering studying medicine, engineering or biotechnology after they graduate this spring. The pupils are Kristian Novsett Borgen, Aurora Opheim Sauar, Edvard Dybevold Hesle, Alexander Lu, Trym Overrein Lunde and Tuva Askmann Nærby.

Cooperation on radiationThe pupils get practical insight into topics they have barely touched on during physics lessons. They appreciate getting some insight into working life and seeing how a physicist works.

Hellebust explains how a team comprising a doctor, a radiation therapist and a physicist cooperate on planning a patient’s radiation treatment. If, like many others, you think of physicists as elderly men with unkempt hair running around with their heads full of abstract and incomprehensible formulas, your prejudice has hereby been refuted. The physicists who supervise the pupils and work with radiotherapy on a daily basis are young and know how to entertain their pupils.

From brachytherapy to radiotherapy machinesAfter the pupils have been given an introduction to brachytherapy, physicists Jørund Graadal Svestad and Live Furnes Øyen take them on a tour to see the radiotherapy machines in use in the radiotherapy building. Cancer patients sit in the corridors with family members and friends waiting for their turn, while Jørund explains to the students how the radiotherapy machine is used.

Inside the radiotherapy room, the Geiger counter that Jørund is carrying detects radiation.

‘But it’s a very small amount of radiation, not problematic in any way,’ he says.

The final stop before lunch is a room that could easily be mistaken for the set of the old Norwegian science TV series Fysikk på roterommet. Among other things, it contains an old radiotherapy machine and an old-fashioned ultrasound machine. The pupils have a look and fiddle around with the old machines. They get a chance to feel and see how today’s radiotherapy has developed by leaps and bounds within a relatively short space of time.

‘It’s been great fun and very educational and, not least, we’ve had an opportunity to learn from the experts,’ says one of the pupils.

When the Prime Minister opens the Oslo Cancer Cluster innovation Park at Montebello in August, the founder Jónas Einarsson are already planning the next steps for the Radium Hospital Innovation Campus.

Monday August 24th is the official opening of the Oslo Cancer Cluster Innovation Park. This unique project is built on private enthusiasm and builds on the long history of cancer research and treatment performed at the Norwegian Radium Hospital. The Innovation Park includes Ullern High School, The Cancer Registry of Norway, Oslo Cancer Cluster Incubator, and Institute for Medical Informatics and Pathology at Oslo University Hospital – as well as global biopharmaceutical and biotech companies.

Integrated high schoolEarly 2000, Jónas Einarsson, CEO at the Radium Hospital Research Foundation, and Kaare Norum, former principal of the University of Oslo, realized that a natural cluster for cancer research, development and innovation emerged in the Oslo-area. Together they established Oslo Cancer Cluster, a research and industry cluster within cancer.

They soon realized that the milieu needed a physical innovation center for collaboration, innovation and networking across disciplines. The idea of an innovation park were born, optimally placed right next to the Norwegian Radium Hospital and with Ullern High School as an integrated part to attract and develop talents to cancer R&D and entrepreneurship.

“As a former principal and a man with education as his focus, Kaare Norum came up with the idea to integrate Ullern High School,” says Einarsson. “Ullern and principal at that time, Paal Riis, was very positive from day one, “Einarsson explains, “The collaboration started in 2009 and is expanding every year, and we look forward to being located in the same building.”

All ready for next stepsOslo Cancer Cluster Innovation Park aims to create one of Europe’s leading centers for education, research and industry in cancer. “By building the park right next to the hospital and Institute for cancer research, the value chain from basic research to industry is brought together at one place: The Radium Hospital Innovation Campus.

Einarsson is already planning the next steps to strengthen the campus further; “We will expand with more buildings and facilities,” he says. “The need for a new clinic building at the Radium Hospital is urgent, and the Oslo-area lack a center for proton treatment. We have investors and drawings in place already”.

Unique project
“We are honoured to have Prime Minister Erna Solberg opening Oslo Cancer Cluster Innovation Park. Governing Mayor of Oslo, Stian Berger Røsland and Head of Oslo University Hospital, Bjorn Erikstein are also part of this celebration “ says Arne Baumann, Chairman of the Board of the Innovation Park. “We look forward to show them the uniqueness of this project; the park integrates education, excellent research and innovations, and represents a real opportunity to make biotech and health research a new Norwegian industry. Oslo Cancer Cluster Innovation Park is really one of a kind,” Baumann states.

More than 170 people kicked-off the Oslo Cancer Cluster Innovation Parkat the annual Oslo Cancer Cluster Summer Meeting. The Innovation park opens in less than a year, and for the first time participants from the cluster could come in side the Park.

Six biology students from Ullern High School were selected to intern at the Department of Tumor Biology at Oslo University Hospital in week 50. This is the fourth time the department has had students from Ullern interning, says researcher Birgit Engesæter. Together with her research colleague Siri Tveito, she is in charge of the students – learning them the tricks and trades of working in an oncology lab.

The day Oslo Cancer Cluster drops by the students are busy looking at melanoma cells: they are measuring the protein levels in cell lysate to later see whether a treatment has been effective or not in inhibiting the growth of the skin cancer cells.

“This is very close to what we do in our daily life here at the department, so the students get a pretty good idea on how it is to be an oncology researcher. The treatment the students are studying today for instance was available on the market only short time ago,” says Engesæter.

Highly motivated and very grateful
Thea, Sofie, Marte, Helge, Ildri and Gabriella have divided into three groups and are all highly concentrated on the protocol, checking out with Engesæter occasionally whether they are doing the right thing. All of them have biology, chemistry and mathematics at school, but they have not had so much lab work in biology – a bit more in chemistry.

“The first day they struggle a bit with the equipment, but then they get the feeling with it. In the end of the week they are more or less experts with the pipettes.” says Engesæter.

The six students are highly motivated for their week as oncology researchers, as they have been selected after an internal application round among all the biology students at Ullern. Some of them were even interning at the Norwegian Institute for Public Health and at the Department of Medical Physics, Oslo University Hospital earlier in 2013.

“We are so lucky to get this chance to actually come here to the hospital and learn from real researchers and work in the lab. We are very grateful,” say several of the students impulsively, more than once.

But they are not so sure they actually would like to become researchers, due to the tough working conditions. When we ask them what they would like to study, they mention medical school and engineering studies where they earn a profession.

But first they have some days left at the department, learning even more oncology research and presenting a small talk on what they have learnt this week.

Educational agreement
The students are interning at the Department of Tumor Biology due to the educational agreement between Oslo Cancer Cluster and Ullern High School. The educational agreement brings into life the common vision Oslo Cancer Cluster an Ullern High School share of educating the researchers and entrepreneurs of tomorrow.

In 2015 Ullern High School with 900 students will be integrated in the Oslo Cancer Cluster Innovation Park currently under construction next to the Norwegian Radium Hospital at Montebello in Oslo.

14th:
Competence development course for the teachers at Ullern High School as well as other schools in Oslo on nutrition with Kaare Norum, former principal of University of Oslo and one of the Oslo Cancer Clusters initiators.

February

3rd – 5th:
Six chemistry students interning at the Department of Radiation Biology, Institute for Cancer Research, Oslo University Hospital.

10th – 14th:
Six media students interning at Oslo Cancer Cluster, will document the Gründer Camp.

10th – 14th
Six physics students interning at the Department of Medical Physics, Oslo University Hospital.

March – April

Educational Day in Entrepreneurship for approximately 180 students.
April

1st – 4th:
6 biology students interning at the Division of Infectious Disease Control at the Norwegian Institute of Public Health.

Oslo Cancer Cluster

Oslo Cancer Cluster Innovation Park

Oslo Cancer Cluster Incubator

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ABOUT US

Oslo Cancer Cluster is an oncology research and industry cluster dedicated to improving the lives of cancer patients by accelerating the development of new cancer diagnostics and medicines.

We are a national non-profit member organization with about 90 members. Our members are Norwegian and international companies, research and financial institutions, university hospitals and organizations – all working in the cancer field.

CONTACT

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Oslo Cancer Cluster is an oncology research and industry cluster dedicated to improving the lives of cancer patients by accelerating the development of new cancer diagnostics and medicines.

We are a national non-profit member organization with about 90 members. Our members are Norwegian and international companies, research and financial institutions, university hospitals and organizations – all working in the cancer field.